China Restaurant Tian-Fu, Wilmersdorf, Berlin

After hearing positive reviews and being big fans of Szechuan food we decided to try having dinner at Tian Fu. The restaurant was packed with a good mix of locals and Chinese which looked promising. The dimsums arrived quickly after ordering and they looked and tasted great, home made and totally authentic. However, if the restaurant claims to be representative of Szechuan cuisine, the main course(s) would ensure that it’s an experience best avoided. The Szechuan beef and chicken was so over-salted that one could easily think that salted meats are preferred in China. Either that or the cook had a new girlfriend. Tian Fu uses salted econo-“meat” imported from Brazil (avoiding EU tariffs on fresh produce). The waitress was very nice and understanding but that did not fully compensate for the totally inedible first round. The re-hashed dishes (after some polite complaints) were merely inedible. We both know what Szechuan cooking should taste like, ie nothing like what the Tian Fu attempts to serve. 2 questions remain 1) do the Chinese that eat there get different food? 2) Are the judges of the gastro review where Tian Fu won 3rd prize 2009 so utterly clueless?
0 stars is unfortunately not possible here…
We will not repeat this experience and cannot recommend dining here.

Nice atmosphere, friendly staff, huge menu, quite large portions.

BUT unfortunatley the food is not great. I certainly wouldn’t go again.

If you order a main course marked with 3 chilis in Tian-Fu, it really is uncompromisingly hot. Authentic Schezuan food, I must say.

However, consistency seems to be an issue. Also the service of the male waiter was lacking.

Very good food here, freshly made. Restaurant and the staff are attentive and good...

wer typische szecuan-gerichte probieren möchte, ist dieses restaurant genau richtig. feuertopf ist zum empfehlen!

So far, I found this place to be an adequate Sichuan restaurant. Atmosphere is nice, service is friendly and good, and the food is not too bad, although I haven't tried too many dishes. The good news is that the dimsum is actually homemade, the bad news is that it isn't that great but full marks for trying. The roast duck was passable, the fried rice was quite good and a couple of other dishes were tolerable.

I will be back again as the hotpot looks quite interesting and so do some of the more traditional Sichuan dishes. The only comparable Sichuan restaurant in Berlin is the original Ming Dynasty in Brückenstraße 6 and they are both pretty much neck-and-neck, though Ming is perhaps a little cheaper.

Oh, the other good news is that I did not detect much use of monosodium glutamate in Tian Fu, so that is definitely a plus point.

NOTE: I did come by again for the Sichuan hotpot and it was pretty good. Still, I think the Lucky Star in Friedrichstrasse does a slightly better hotpot with a tastier soup. Just my opinion!

finally, my quest to find an adequate substitute for my favorite sichuan haunt in PA may have come to a successful end!

perhaps my previous virginity regarding sichuan food has kept me from discovering the chili-haven that is tian fu on uhlandstrasse – after all, it’s been around for over a decade, and it took me this long to find it.

i’ve gone three times now (more than any other resto this summer), and i’ll most definitely be back –

http://bitchinberlin.wordpress.com/2009/07/22/tian-fu-wdorf/